Indian rapes source of shame: PM

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi has condemned a spate of rapes as a source of shame for India and urged an end to communal violence as he vowed to improve the lives of the country's poor in his first Independence Day speech.

MODI, the son of a tea vendor who come to power in May, also delivered a withering assessment of the ruling establishment from the ramparts of New Delhi's 17th century Red Fort as he addressed often taboo subjects such as sexual violence, foeticide, religious unrest and a lack of toilets.